Wild Orchard Records is excited to announce the release and immediate availability of 1968 (Slight Return) by Outer Park.

1968 (Slight Return) is now available for purchase as a CD (CDBaby) and digital download (CDBaby, iTunes store, Amazon), and on all the major streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, etc).

1968 (Slight Return) recreates the spirit of underground radio, mashed up and reinvented through 50 years of musical and life history.

Outer Park is Chelsea Austin (vocals), Patrick S. Noonan (guitars), James Singleton (bass), and Charles Tobermann,(keyboards/guitar). They are joined by Jason Marsalis (drums/vibes) and saxophonist Jake Martin on this new release.

With sources and influences ranging from the British Invasion (Cream) to the San Francisco sound (Jefferson Airplane) to Chicago blues (Muddy Waters) to psychedelia (Pink Floyd) to country to Frank Zappa to John Coltrane to John Cage, Outer Park brings a mix of respect and fresh approaches to songs and styles from the 1960s and 1970s as well as some originals.

It was 50 years ago, today! In 1968, childhood friends and bandmates Patrick S. Noonan, James Singleton, and Charles Tobermann played their first gig together in a band called “Strange Rhubarb and the Hellbent For Election,” in a church basement in Springfield, Illinois. Other bands followed until high school graduation took them separate ways, both geographically and musically. Patrick S. Noonan played in folk groups up and down the East coast. Charles Tobermann studied classical music and moved to Europe. James Singleton moved to New Orleans and became the first-call bass player in that musical town. In 2013 they played together again in a surprise reunion and had so much fun they decided to make an album in 2018, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of that church basement début. They wanted to see how five decades of music and life experiences reflected on the music that they had loved in the heady times of Woodstock, the civil rights movement, and the anti-war movement. Vocalist Chelsea Austin brought a younger generation’s take and fresh approach.

If you are looking for a wide diversity of styles from classic rock to blues to country to jazz to psychedelic and experimental, treated with respect and without nostalgia, in fresh arrangements, try 1968 (Slight Return) by Outer Park!